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Open letter to the NHL original 6 and “traditional market” fans

Something that has really bugged me about NHL fans, announcers and “experts” in general for a while is the overwhelming bias towards original 6 teams Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and also teams from “traditional hockey markets”.

My team Anaheim Ducks are currently in the middle of a terrific series with the Blackhawks. The Ducks are the #1 seed in the NHL having had a brilliant season and they are currently leading the series 3-2. This series has had it all, great goals, tight finishes and big hits. Even a triple overtime game that broke the record for the longest Blackhawks playoffs game.

While watching the games it’s hard not to notice the tone of the announcers voices and even outright disgraceful comments towards the Ducks (see Mike Milbury on Corey Perry: http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/25192252/corey-perry-irked-by-comments-made-by-analyst-mike-milbury).

No Matter what the Ducks do, virtually no respect is forthcoming from the hockey media. Most still predicting the Ducks to lose this series and have done so at the start of each series, despite the Ducks being the #1 seed. (how is that working out for you Jets and Flames?).

The fans are even worse. Just look at any comments thread on Facebook regarding this series and it’s all, “I hope Hawks and Rangers win then we will have original 6 teams”, “I wont watch the final unless one of the original 6 are in it”, “The NHL will hate the Ducks and Lightning making the final”, “Ratings for the Ducks and Lightning will be terrible”, “It’s bad for the NHL to have the Ducks and Lightning in the final” etc etc etc.

My message to these people is: If all you want is to watch original 6 teams, maybe you should form your own little 6 team comp and play each other 16 times a season. You can all wear your old lace up jerseys…. oh and forget helmets.

Chirp me all you want about my team and how they are going etc, I love some good trash talking. Some of those Flying V and Gordon Bombay jokes are pretty funny. Especially the one where there was a shot of real life ducks players in that formation (by accident). But please try to move on from your old time hockey bias and realize that we are now in the 21st century and none of your teams have a god given right to be in the playoffs or the final.